Gary McAllister and Tony Pulis stood shoulder to shoulder in their condemnation of a refereeing performance guaranteed to grab all the headlines.

A raft of 13 yellow cards and two reds saw Stoke reduced to nine men, and three players, including Coventry?s Youssef Safri, facing suspension in a fortnight as the heavy-handed match official Andy Hall stamped his mark on the game.

Five first half bookings, the first of which was issued as early as the second minute, set the tone for a thor-oughly consistent display for the man in black who came in for fierce criticism from several quarters for officiating the game, quite literally, to the letter of the law.

There was no room for leeway in Hall?s book - one of the ?elite list? referees in the country - and as the yellow cards flowed, it was inevitable that reds were going to follow.

McAllister?s show of unity with his opposite number was all very admirable, but for Sky Blues? fans, their only concern was finally seeing a striker on the score-sheet and getting three points.

Jay Bothroyd hit two superbly executed first half goals in the space of five minutes to give City a comfortable early lead before The Potters grabbed one back from an unfortunate deflection that wrong-footed Morten Hyldgaard who made an impressive return in goal.

But the visitors? seven changes looked more than justified as every single player who came in to the side played their part in the victory, from Richard Shaw making crucial tackles and Barry Quinn clearing twice off the line at the back, to Craig Hignett creating and Bothroyd scoring goals in the attack.

McAllister deployed a 4-5-1 line-up, switching to 4-3-3 going forward with Richie Partridge and Bothroyd supporting Dean Holdsworth who led the line up front.

But it was Hignett, returning from a two match ban, who gave City the breakthrough when he threaded an exquisite 30-yard pass to send Bothroyd free on goal in the 16th minute.

The slick move had come from a counter attack after successfully defending a Stoke corner and was completed with a delightful finish by the striker who scored his first goal and first for a forward for 11 games.

Five minutes later he put the ball in the back of the net again after giving former Highfield Road player Marcus Hall - currently on loan at the Britannia Stadium - the slip on the right flank and picking his spot past loan keeper Steve Banks from the edge of the box.

And the 20-year-old could have had one of the quickest hat-tricks in the club?s history had he not screwed an effort wide minutes later.

And there were more chances to come as the goal scorer turned provided for Hignett who miskicked two efforts from close range.

But the Blackburn loan player?s overall contribution was good, as was Holdsworth?s, as the pair used their experience and footballing brains to good effect, calming things down and putting a foot on the ball along with the player-manager before playing the right pass.

To Stoke?s credit they kept working hard and got themselves back in the game from a free-kick when Youssef Safri controversially tackled Bjarni Gudjonsson from behind, 25-yards out from the Coventry goal, prompting a flurry of bookings.

The Moroccan was shown a yellow card for the foul while McAllister was pulled up for dissent after sarcastically applauding the referee?s decision - one of five bookings for equally petty dissent in a game which the official ruled with a rod of iron.

The resulting free-kick was played short to midfielder Peter Hoekstra who blasted a shot into the wall where it took a nasty deflection off Safri and flew into the back of the net.

Both sides created good chances early in the second half, Coventry when Dean Holdsworth hooked a half volley narrowly wide and Stoke when Brynjar Gunnarsson forced Hyldgaard into a low save from distance.

But it was the home side who upped the ante and took the game to their opponents, forcing the back four and Hyldgaard, in particular, to earn their corn.

The Dane commanded his area confidently, catching high balls and punching clear from a string of threatening crosses that rained into the box, while his defenders stood firm in front of him.

Craig Pead was rewarded for some excellent recent form in the wings with a run out to tighten things up in the midfield in place of the more forward-thinking Hignett, and his fresh legs helped cope with the increasing pressure. The defending wasn?t pretty at times, and the fans were left holding their breath on several occasions before the game was reduced to a farce as the bookings came thick and fast.

As the eighth and ninth yellow cards were shown in the 67th and 70th minutes, it was blatantly clear that with so many players treading a tight-rope, a red card would not be far away.

In fact, it took just two minutes to come when Wayne Thomas was pulled up for his second challenge on Richie Partridge whose pace had made him somewhat of a marked man in terms of his share of tackles in the game.

But this was more obstruction than a rash challenge warranting a card, although having been warned by Hall only minutes earlier, he had only himself to blame.

Undeterred, the Potters continued to press forward until Gunnarsson was given his marching orders four minutes from time for a 50-50 challenge that left Mo Konjic needing treatment.

It was the last straw for the home fans and their team, and even McAllister gave the midfielder a sympathetic tap on the back of his neck as he trudged off the field.

And so the post-match talk turned to the referee whose penchant for taking names threw him into the spotlight. Even taking away the over zealous bookings for dissent, his decisions on the fouls would have still caused a stir.

But for the travelling Coventry fans, their only interest was in the result which brought a halt to the club?s slide down the table and some much needed cheer after five straight defeats.